The Life and Times of a Rising Scientist : A Day in the Silver Lab

Working in a lab isn’t like most other jobs. There isn’t a set schedule of events, or a routine that you do every day. Every day in the lab is very different. It all depends on the experiments you are currently conducting and their results. Of course there are quite a few techniques and protocols that I perform quite frequently.

I start out my day at 7:30 am. After I get dressed and ready I head out from my central campus apartment lab-bound. Depending on the bus’ timing (which is frequently delayed due to on-campus construction) I either walk the full 30 minute trip, or I take the bus 2/3s of the way. I get to the lab between 9- 9:30am. On Monday mornings we usually have lab meeting at 9:30am, and usually once or twice throughout the week my lab and I go to some of the department’s talks. Although my lab is extremely interdisciplinary we are a part of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.

If I don’t have meetings to attend, well then it’s time for science. Since my routine varies on a daily basis, I thought it would be best to give you an idea of some of the techniques and protocols I encounter most frequently. Often in a lab you will perform the same set of techniques multiple times a week. In my lab these are in utero electroporation, immunofluorescence and FISH. In this blog I’m going to describe in utero electroporation. Other common techniques include PCR, gel electrophoresis, western blots, southern blots, and transforming plasmids.

In utero electroporation is one of the most difficult techniques. The science behind it is fairly simple. The real difficulty comes from the precision and dexterity necessary to perform the procedure. Let’s start with the phrase “in utero.” In utero is a Latin phrase that can be translated to “in the womb.” When this term is used in biology, it refers to a procedure that is performed on an embryo or fetus. Electroporation is a technique used in biology. It is when electrical pulses are applied to allow substances through the membranes of cells by making the membranes temporarily porous. These substances frequently include foreign DNA that would like to be introduced into the cells. In utero electroporation is simply exactly as its title describes, electroporation “in utero,” in an embryo. Below is a diagram showing the process of electroporation on a mouse. I use electroporated brains in nearly all my experiments. However learning to electroporate is very time consuming and difficult, so at the moment I use sections electroporated by my secondary mentor.

Working in a lab requires more than just individual intelligence and skill. At the core of a successful lab is teamwork. Lab members rely on each other to teach new techniques, answer questions, provide helpful insight and information, and for guidance. Collaboration in the lab is essential. After all two heads (or three heads, four heads, ten heads, and even twenty heads depending on the size of the lab) are always better than one! My daily life in the lab involves working with my wonderful labmates.